Written Answers Wednesday 28 June 2006

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many farm-related jobs there were in each parliamentary constituency in each year since 1999.

Ross Finnie: Information on the number of farm-related jobs in each parliamentary constituency is not readily available.

  Information from the June Agricultural Census, including the number of farm-related jobs, is available by Regional Groupings of Unitary Authorities. This information is published annually in the Scottish Executive publication: Scottish Agricultural Census Summary Sheets By Geographic Area and is available electronically at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/15631/9620.

British-Irish Council

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will report on the outcome of the British-Irish Council summit held in London on 2 June 2006.

Nicol Stephen: On 2 June 2006, the UK Government hosted the eighth British-Irish Council (BIC) Summit in London, attended by myself and Mr Ross Finnie MSP, Minister for Environment and Rural Development. The focus of the summit was the Environment on which the UK Government takes the lead in the council.

  The council recognised that, as well as mitigating future emissions, BIC Members must also look at how to adapt to the impacts of unavoidable climate change. Ministers availed of the opportunity to share experience and exchange knowledge in order to improve our understanding of the impacts of climate change and to develop appropriate adaptation strategies.

  The council recognised the importance of scientific knowledge in developing effective strategies to prepare for the impacts of climate change. The council agreed to look at ways in which Governments, Agencies and researchers across the British-Irish Council region can work together to improve our understanding of the impacts of climate change.

  The council agreed on a number of further areas where the BIC could usefully examine the impacts of climate change. These include impacts on the marine environment, the increased likelihood of extreme weather events, implications for energy and transport infrastructure, and the potential effects on the economies of BIC Members. The council agreed on a number of proposals for work going forward including participation in the Marine Climate Change Partnership, the sharing of best practice, participation in a workshop on the development of adaptation strategies, and the establishment of a working group on indicators of climate change impacts and adaptation.

  As with previous summits, the meeting also received progress reports and agreed a plan for future work on the other subjects being taken forward by council members. These are drugs; environment; knowledge economy; minority and lesser-used languages; tourism; transport, and social inclusion.

  At this summit, Scottish ministers proposed a new priority work area for the BIC - Demography. The council agreed that demographic issues, such as attitudes to ageing and migration strategies, present significant challenges for BIC Member Administrations and that there is much to be gained from sharing experience, information and approaches to them.

  The council approved the proposal to adopt Demography as a new work area, to be led by Scotland.

  I am placing a copy of the Communiqué issued by the British-Irish Council after the summit meeting in London in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39921).

Crime

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of victims of crime have been under 18 years old in each of the last 10 years, broken down by police force area.

Cathy Jamieson: There are no centrally held statistics describing the characteristics of victims of crime across Scotland.

  Data from the Scottish Crime Survey (SCS), however, can give some insight into the prevalence of crime victimisation amongst young people. Reports from the SCS are available on the web and can be downloaded from the Scottish Executive website (www.scotland.gov.uk) or hard copies can be supplied upon request.

Crime

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been killed by (a) knives, (b) guns and (c) other weapons in each year since 1990.

Cathy Jamieson: The number of homicides for each year from 1990-91 to 2004-05, broken down b the main method of killing, are given in the following table.

  

 Year
 Sharp Instrument
 Blunt Instrument
 Firearms
 Other1
 Total


 1990-91
 27
 4
 3
 29
 63


 1991-92
 51
 14
 9
 30
 104


 1992-93
 64
 19
 3
 56
 142


 1993-94
 41
 15
 12
 35
 103


 1994-95
 55
 12
 10
 37
 114


 1995-962
 69
 10
 26
 45
 150


 1996-97
 49
 14
 8
 39
 110


 1997-98
 39
 9
 7
 42
 97


 1998-99
 39
 15
 7
 33
 94


 1999-2000
 67
 9
 4
 43
 123


 2000-01
 48
 11
 4
 45
 108


 2001-02
 56
 9
 5
 43
 113


 2002-03
 60
 15
 3
 47
 125


 2003-04
 55
 5
 2
 46
 108


 2004-05
 72
 8
 8
 49
 137



  Notes:

  1. "Other" includes such methods as strangulation, hitting and kicking, etc. as well as unknown methods.

  2. The firearms figures for 1995-96 include the 17 victims of the Dunblane shootings.

  Further details of the homicides from 1995-96 onwards are available in the statistical publication Homicide in Scotland, 2004-05, published by the Scottish Executive in December 2005. A copy is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 38380).

Dentistry

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Edinburgh Dental School closed.

Lewis Macdonald: The Edinburgh Dental School closed in 1995, following a decision by ministers in 1989. The final full cohort of students graduated in 1993.

Dentistry

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many student dental places in each year of training were lost as a result of the closure of the Edinburgh Dental School.

Lewis Macdonald: The Dental Workforce Planning report published by the Scottish Executive in 2000 shows that the range of graduate numbers for full cohorts in Edinburgh over the period 1990-93 was 34 to 45. In the final full year of training, 45 students graduated from the school. This represents a potential annual average training capacity of 38 graduates per year lost as a result of closure.

Dentistry

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional student dental places were created to replace those lost at the Edinburgh Dental School.

Lewis Macdonald: The total intake of UK dental students in Scotland reduced from 151 in 1989-90 to 120 in 1996-97. This represents a loss of 31 places available to dental students in Scotland due to the review of dental student numbers and the closure of Edinburgh Dental School. New places were created following the report of the Scottish Advisory Committee on Dental Workforce in 2000, and intake had risen again to 178 by 2005.

Environment

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for longitudinal research programmes in environmental science and land use studies and how it will determine the funding of core activities of these programmes.

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its strategy is for longitudinal research programmes in environmental science and land use studies.

Rhona Brankin: The Environment and Rural Development Department’s (SEERAD) research strategy document Strategic Research for SEERAD 2005-2010 sets out the research to be funded by SEERAD through the commissioning of programmes of research. Work on environmental science and land use studies is included within the programmes. Research undertaken by SEERAD’s non-departmental public bodies, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and its agencies including Fisheries Research Service also include aspects of environmental science and land use studies.

  A copy of the research strategy document can be found at: www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/01/20526/49994.

  Research to meet SEERAD’s needs beyond 2010 will be determined through on-going review processes involving a wide range of stakeholders through advisory mechanisms including SEERAD’s Strategic Science Advisory Panel.

Environment

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that the funding criteria used by research councils will deliver longitudinal research programmes in environmental science and land use studies.

Rhona Brankin: The Research Councils are funded by the Office of Science and Innovation which forms part of the Department of Trade and Industry. Funding of the Research Councils is a reserved matter. The Scottish Executive has no responsibility for any of the Research Councils. Further information on them can be found at: www.ost.gov.uk .

Fatal Accident Inquiries

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is provided for the families of victims involved in fatal accident inquiries.

Hugh Henry: Fatal accident inquiries (FAI) are concerned with the circumstances of a wide range of sudden and unexpected deaths. It is the responsibility of the Procurator Fiscal to initiate a FAI and to inform the family of the deceased of this course of action. Thereafter Victim Information and Advice (VIA) will usually make contact with the family and keep it informed of the progress of the inquiry and its outcome.

  I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-26793 on 20 June 2006 which provides more detail on the role of VIA in relation to its work with the families of a deceased whose death is the subject of a FAI.

  More general support for families of deceased persons whose deaths are considered by FAIs is available from a range of organisations depending on the nature and circumstances of the death of the family member. Depending on the circumstances of the death VIA will attempt to identify an appropriate agency that can provide relevant assistance and support and recommend it to the family.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Fuel Costs

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact on the rural economy of the cost of petrol and diesel.

Ross Finnie: The Executive has made no detailed assessment of the impact of fuel prices alone on the rural economy. Nevertheless, we are aware that the Rural Scotland Price Survey showed that in 2003 fuel prices in some rural areas were 13% higher than in urban Scotland. There is also a greater dependency on car transport for many in rural Scotland, reflected in rates of 80% of employed adults in accessible rural areas and 77% in remote rural areas making their usual journey to work by car, compared with 65% for Scotland as a whole (Scottish Household Survey (2004). Ministers will continue to monitor the situation and make representations to the UK Government as they consider appropriate.

Fuel Costs

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are in place to monitor the impact of increasing fuel costs on less well-off and elderly people.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive plans to continue to use the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) to monitor fuel poverty in Scotland. This report is produced annually and can be used to model the impact of fuel price rises. Modelling based on figures from the 2002 SHCS estimated that every 5% increase in fuel prices could result in another 30,000 fuel poor households if incomes remain unchanged.

Poverty

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been allocated for the purpose of eradicating deprivation in each local authority area in each year since 1999, also showing year-on-year percentage changes.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39934) and covers allocations for the main funding programmes targeted specifically at eradicating deprivation since 1999, namely the Social Inclusion Partnership and Better Neighbourhood Services Fund programmes and their successor Community Regeneration Fund; the Working for Families Fund, and funding recently allocated to tackle the problems of financial inclusion worklessness and young people not in education, employment or training (NEET).

  It should be noted that these specific allocations represent a small proportion of the total funding which has an impact on deprivation, particularly the core budgets of local government and the health service. Currently, adjustments for deprivation in terms of Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) to local government are made to 25 GAE sub-services linked to a total of £2 billion out of a total GAE of £9 billion. Similarly, the vast majority (75%) of health resources are allocated using the Arbuthnott formula, which includes an adjustment for deprivation levels.

  The Executive’s May 2005 submission to the Finance Committee’s Cross-cutting Inquiry into Deprivation Expenditure (provided details of other funding streams which take account of deprivation but also have other purposes. This is available on the Scottish Parliament’s website at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/finance/papers-05/fip05-16.pdf#page=12.

Prescription Charges

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prescriptions have been issued and what the cost has been of the drugs prescribed by GPs in NHS Tayside in each of the last three years.

Lewis Macdonald: The following table shows the number of prescription items and cost for prescription items issued by General Practitioners in NHS Tayside during the financial years ending 31 March 2004 to 2006 inclusive. Data given refer to prescriptions dispensed in the community, but do not take into account medicines dispensed by hospitals or hospital based clinics. The total cost given is that before addition of any pharmacy fees and deduction of any discount and patient charges.

  

 Health Board
 Financial Year
 Number of Prescription Items
Gross Ingredient Cost (£)


 NHS Tayside
 2003-04
 5,372,173 
 72,010,934 


 NHS Tayside
 2004-05
 5,565,798 
 73,590,268 


 NHS Tayside
 2005-06
 5,757,661 
 76,568,748

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many times illegal drugs have been found in each prison in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) type of drug and (b) quantity of drugs found.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  
The information requested is not available. I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-23897 on 20 March 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search. 
The breakdown by type of illegal drugs and quantity of drugs is not available as normally SPS pass any suspicious substances and packages over to the police. The police do not routinely pass information back to the SPS following the analysis of suspicious substances and packages.

Prison Service

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific guidance it has issued to (a) the Scottish Prison Service, (b) Reliance and (c) the NHS about the treatment of imprisoned parturient women.

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers it necessary for women prisoners to be handcuffed when in labour.

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to ensure that ethical standards are maintained in the care of all women prisoners in labour.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  
No, unless in exceptional circumstances.
No specific guidance has been issued on the management of women prisoners who are in labour. Only around two women a year give birth while in custody and the last birth was subject to close liaison between Reliance and healthcare staff. This helps ensure that ethical standards are met. A risk assessment is done in each case and it is a matter for Reliance to then determine the appropriate escort arrangements. This has resulted in the prisoner being handcuffed while in labour. The company have recently reviewed their approach and subject to a risk assessment, Reliance no longer handcuff prisoners while in hospitalised labour and handcuffs are not put on the prisoner until after bonding with the baby has taken place.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners have (a) committed suicide and (b) been murdered whilst in prison in each year since 1990.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  (a) The available information is contained in the following table:

  

 1992-93
 1993-94
 1994-95
 1995-96
 1996-97
 1997-98
 1998-99
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 7
 7
 16
 8
 17
 13
 14
 17
 11
 11
 8
 5
 91
 101



  Note: 1. Some deaths are still subject to Fatal Accident Inquiries.

  (b) The information is contained in the table below:

  

 1992-93
 1993-94
 1994-95
 1995-96
 1996-97
 1997-98
 1998-99
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 0
 0
 0
 1
 1
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0

Renewable Energy

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what timescales are in place in respect of moving from reliance on natural gas to greater dependency on renewable energy, including other forms of gas.

Allan Wilson: The UK has recently become a net importer of natural gas, however the North Sea has many years of gas production remaining.

  I refer the member to the Scottish Executive’s response to the UK Energy Review. A copy of which can be found at: www.scotland.gov.uk.

  The Executive is committed to a balanced energy policy with an increasing share of energy coming from a variety of renewable energy sources – including biomass, marine, solar and wind. The Executive has set a target for 40% of Scottish electricity generation to be provided from renewable sources by 2020.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests for DNA information on individuals have been made to the Scottish Criminal Record Office by foreign law agencies in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Criminal Record Office does not hold DNA information on individuals. The information is held by the Scottish DNA database at Tayside Police. No requests for DNA information on individuals from foreign law enforcement agencies have been received in the last five years.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests for DNA information on individuals made to the Scottish Criminal Record Office by foreign law agencies have been granted in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Criminal Record Office does not hold DNA information on individuals. The information is held by the Scottish DNA database at Tayside Police. As no requests have been received, none have been granted.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used when deciding whether to agree to a foreign law agency’s request for DNA information on individuals held by the Scottish Criminal Record Office.

Cathy Jamieson: Any such request would be dealt with on its merits taking account of Interpol’s arrangements for information processing and sharing.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what procedure is followed when a foreign law agency applies for DNA information on an individual held by the Scottish Criminal Record Office and which body or individual makes the ultimate decision whether to grant the request.

Cathy Jamieson: Under current arrangements, if such a request were to be received, the decision would be made by the Deputy Chief Constable of Tayside Police who has lead responsibility within the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland for DNA. Responsibility for the DNA database is expected to move to the Scottish Police Services Authority from April 2007.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25544 by Cathy Jamieson on 13 June 2006, what specifically is meant by the statement that the fingerprint officers involved in the court presentation of fingerprint evidence in the Marion Ross murder case "are employed in the checking and auditing of processes and procedures, and in general supervisory duties within the Glasgow Fingerprint Bureau."

Cathy Jamieson: Specifically, the fingerprint officers involved in the court presentation of fingerprint evidence in the Marion Ross murder case carry out internal auditing of processes as requested by the Quality Manager and quality check documentation already approved to go to court. This includes checking that all required processes have been adhered to for case work; that all information on the status of cases is entered on to the office management system, and that proposed changes to local work instruction do not adversely affect other processes and procedures. They do not check the fingerprint identifications of other officers and are not providing fingerprint evidence in court.

Transport

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to improve transport links between the Dumbarton parliamentary constituency and Glasgow since 1999.

Tavish Scott: The Executive has made available to East and West Dunbartonshire Councils since 1999, the provision shown in the following table for local roads.

  

 
East Dunbartonshire
(£ Million)
West Dunbartonshire
(£ Million)


 1999-2000
 4.142
 2.799


 2000-01
 4.210
 2.859


 2001-02
 4.327
 2.931


 2002-03
 4.582
 3.102


 2003-04
 4.814
 3.259


 2004-05
 4.964
 3.437


 2005-06
 5.151
 3.567


 2006-07
 6.239
 4.324


 2007-08
 6.239
 4.325



  The allocations shown in the table include East and West Dunbartonshire’s share of the additional funding of £60 million per annum that the Executive has made available to all Scottish local authorities for improving local roads in 2006-07 and 2007-08 as part of Spending Review 2004.

  Although these are the allocations which the Executive provides it is for each local authority to determine its own priorities and expenditure.

  The establishment of the new statutory Regional Transport Partnerships through the development of their Regional Transport Strategies provides an opportunity to consider and prioritise projects and identify funding. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport will receive a total of £25,227,647 per annum for the next two years for the development of transport projects in the West of Scotland.

  Tolls ended on the Erskine Bridge on 31 March 2006 to ease congestion in Glasgow particularly through the Clyde Tunnel and on the Clydeside Expressway, and have a beneficial impact on air quality in the city.